𝑴𝑰𝑫𝑵𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 𝑹𝑨𝑰𝑵 • 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐢. 𝐜 (wolfblood)

𝐱𝐯𝐢. - curtsy

016 | "I'm doing this on my own!"

The two girls entered the graffitied, underground network of tunnels that the pack had decided to make their den. It was a safe space, far from the city. No one ever came near it, so it was the perfect spot for them to meet up. And another positive was that no one else knew about it but those five, so if they got into trouble, which was quite often, they had a place to hide for a while.

Ella watched as Carrie walked around a beam in the main room of the dark and dingy den, looking at how the wolf examined each brick on the wall. The pair had said nothing since their last conversation - but Ella needed answers, "Carrie, did your parents ever tell you about the Morwal?"

"What's a Morwal?" The girl asked unenthusiastically.

Ella let out a sigh through her nose before speaking up again, "Well, when something bad happens to a wolfblood, all the horrible feelings inside can start to build up," She watched as Carrie slumped down on the ground. Ella took a seat beside her, letting her forearms rest on her knees, "They get into your wolf. It makes it angry. It makes it not you. Kind of like a werewolf. I think, maybe, that's what's happened to you."

Surprisingly to Ella, the girl laughed in response, "I've always been like this. My parents didn't even tell me what I was until I started... changing."

Ella sighed, "You're not born with the Morwal, Carrie. It's pain. It's brought on by something... believe me, I know. And I also know that talking about it can make it better."

"I haven't come here to make it better!" Carrie exclaimed, letting her hood fall down onto her shoulders as she leaned forward, "I've come here to kill it."

Ella's eyes widened, "W-What do you mean?"

Carrie sighed, letting her head rest against the wall behind her, "Kincaid," she stated, "He can get it out of me."

The brunette sighed. She knew all about Kincaid. A few months prior to when Jana arrived, a man called Kincaid invaded Jana's pack and used a serum that would de-wolf Jana, her pack, and her friends at the time. Luckily, he didn't succeed thanks to the redhead herself and Dr. Whitewood. But Ella still remembered him, standing innocently in the lab when he knew that he was creating something that would destroy an entire species. Ella still found it hard to believe that all that time he wasn't really so innocent.

She shuffled a little closer to Carrie, looking at the girl carefully as she gently broke the news to the girl, "Carrie... Kincaid's gone."

Carrie shook her head, "TJ knows where he is. He can take me to him... that's why I'm here."

Ella's jaw clenched. Kincaid was gone. TJ knew that. So why did he tell Carrie differently?

She stood up abruptly and addressed the girl on the ground, "Stay here. I'll wait outside for TJ."

☾︎

The brunette stood outside, her fists clenched by her sides as she sensed her brother approaching her from behind. She spun around to face him and grabbed ahold of the collar on TJ's shirt with a snarl, "What did you tell Carrie about Kincaid?!"

TJ held her wrist and took her hand away from his collar, "Does it matter?"

"That's why she's here, Jay!" She told him, "She thinks that you're going to take her to him so he can get rid of her wolf!" She exclaimed, pointing a finger at him.

The boy sighed, "It was a stupid story anyway..."

"What was?!" Ella demanded, anger rushing through her veins.

TJ let out a sigh, "I kind of told her that I knew him, that I knew where he was."

Ella scoffed at this. There would be a huge mess to clean up over one stupid little white lie. TJ grabbed her arm, "Look, she was new, okay? I was trying to-" He stopped himself from speaking when he saw his sister's expression. He held two hands out in front of him as an act of surrender, "Now, don't be getting all judgy."

"Great!" Ella said sarcastically, "Now you're going to have to go in there and tell her the truth."

"And what good's that going to do?"

"If she sees that Kincaid can't help her then maybe she'll let me."

TJ sighed, shaking his head at his sister's words, "Why are you even trying to help her?"

"She's got the Morwal, Jay!"

TJ's eyes widened, his gaze moving to look back at the den, fear written on his features, "El," He said, looking back at the girl, "You've got to take her to mum. Look, this isn't like Matei and Emilia now. Segolia can help Carrie. Your agents - get them to get her to Segolia."

"Imara asked me to track Carrie's scent and I did," Ella bravely stated, "I'm doing this on my own!"

An amused expression appeared on TJ's face, "Well... not quite." He said with a smile, using both his thumbs to point at his face. Ella clenched her jaw and hit him on the chest, causing the boy to jump, "You owe Carrie the truth. She's not going to listen to me until you tell her that Kincaid and his serum are all gone."

TJ let out a sigh, before nodding his head, realising she was right. The two walked into the den and walked through the tunnels before Carrie came into sight. The girl jumped up from her sleeping position after sensing them approaching her and ran over to the boy with a desperate expression, "I need you to take me to Kincaid."

TJ glanced back at Ella, but she only stood glaring at him. He gulped and turned back to Carrie, "Look, Carrie, Kincaid isn't here. Uh, he got sent away somewhere, and I don't know where to find him, or his serum. No one does. I lied. I'm sorry."

Ella could sense the anger rising in the girl. Her breaths grew heavier and she ran a hand through her hair before letting out a distraught scream. She lunged at Ella, but the girl held her back, not letting her wolf show as the girl continued to scream. Soon enough, it all got too much for her, and the girl broke down into tears.

Ella's eyes filled with sympathy - she couldn't imagine what she was going through. Carrie shoved herself away from Ella, tears spilling down her cheeks and she sat down on the ground, hugging her knees to her chest as she sobbed, "I'm a monster..."

The brunette looked up at her brother to see his expression was the same as her own. Ella sighed and sat down in front of Carrie, TJ following, "It's not you though, Carrie. You're no monster." Ella reassured the girl.

"What do I do?" The girl asked between sobs.

TJ leaned forward a little, "Look, let Ella help. You can trust her and... she's got this kind of thing nailed." He told the girl with a smile.

"How can she help?" Carrie asked the boy.

"Tell us what happened. We'll keep your secret, whatever it is," Ella looked up at her brother for a second, "We're good at that."

Carrie calmed her breaths, finally looking up at the two figures in front of her. TJ sighed, "Look, Ella can do this thing," He looked at his sister, "Can't you?"

Ella nodded, catching on to what he was saying, "It's called Ansion. It lets me see into the past."

"If you could see, you would understand, it was an accident." Carrie expressed, her voice tearful. Ella looked at her carefully, before shifting her sitting position and sitting on her knees, "You sure about this?" She asked the girl, to which she nodded slowly.

Ella took Carrie's hands in hers, giving the girl a small smile of reassurance before slipping into Ansion. She had no idea what she was about to encounter...